The death of modern television

Television from the internet is going to be the next big thing. By Malachy Browne

The way in which television channels are accessed and viewed will change dramatically in the coming years with the convergence of internet and broadcasting technologies. The relaunch of RTÉ's website provided Irish broadband users a taste for the kind of video on-demand (VOD) that is possible over the internet. No longer must rush hour traffic be negotiated to arrive in time for Six One News; viewers with high speed internet connections can now visit the RTÉ website at their leisure and view any number of programmes. Six One, Prime Time and other programmes are streamed online, even Sean Ban's cringing performances on Charity You're A Star.

The hardware that enables internet television (IPTV) will also merge. At the moment, most IPTV is delivered to a set-top box similar to a Chorus, NTL or a Sky box. In time, conventional television sets will be replaced by display units that connect directly to the internet.

Internet television will be provided by at least two models – free and subscription based content. Most freely available content is likely to be be provided by state agencies, political parties and public broadcasters. Several subscriber-based internet channels already exist that stream terrestrial TV channels and niche content.

The website Joost.com offers MTV, VH-1, National Geographic and Comedy Central among other terrestrial channels to its subscribers. Cycling.tv is an internet channel for cycling enthusiasts that streams videos of races from around the world along with news and downloads. Home Choice is a UK IPTV service that offers subscribers over 1,000 movies, 5,000 music videos and BBC programmes. All of these services allow viewers to stop, rewind, pause and fast-forward programmes as they would with a DVD or video cassette.

Merging television with the internet brings far greater accessibility demand-driven options to viewers and broadcasters alike. Irish consumers will have access to VOD streamed by UK service providers just as it would UK websites. Indeed, RTÉ is building a new emigrants' channel to reach the Irish abroad.

Advertisers will also benefit from the ability to target niche markets and regions. Cycling manufacturers who wish to advertise their products know that Cycling.tv provides an ideal audience. A manufacturer who sells products in a particular region can opt to display their ads only to viewers within that region.

Broadcasters will know how many people view a programme, where they were view it and how long they spend viewing it. Greater interactivity will benefit service providers such as online turf accountants who will offer 'live betting' as viewers see play develop during the British Open or a Rugby World Cup match. Live broadcasts will engage more people – no longer will a production room switchboard ‘light up', the inbox will jam.  

But internet broadcasting is limited at present due to broadband connectivity rates. Most commercial services offer download rates of one to two Megabits per second (MBps). Eight to 10 MBps are required to send visual images of broadcast quality. Video services such as YouTube.com compress images for delivery over slow connections, but the image quality suffers as a result and is not sharp enough be viewed on a typical television set.  

Infrastructure is particularly problematic in Ireland. Much of  Eircom's network consists of long copper lines, particularly in rural areas. Copper lines support download rates of a couple of hundred kilobits per second – far lower than needed for IPTV. In time however, broadband technologies including WIMAX (long range wireless), FTTH (Optic Fibre to the Home) and BPL (broadband through power lines) will confine today's broadband experience to history.

An estimated 4.5 million homes in Europe will have internet television services by 2008 as broadband saturation and video compression technologies improve. The recent sale of Cycling.tv for $6m demonstrates how lucrative the IPTV industry is and companies in Ireland are positioning themselves to capitalise. Gravitate, an interactive media firm in Ireland recently launched an internet television division with a focus on corporations, county councils, tourism bodies, political parties and state organisations. Ronan O'Caollai of Gravitate told Village that "building an online TV channel now only takes a matter of weeks, even days, [allowing businesses to] benefit from advertising,

subscription, sponsorship, pay per view and ecommerce revenues.”